WORCESTER — Television personality and author Farnoosh Torabi was born in Worcester and credits her early upbringing by her immigrant parents — as well as memorable trips to Spag's — for instilling an economizing mentality that led her into a successful career as a personal finance expert.

"By the way," Ms. Torabi said with warm fondness for the city. "They would drop the 'r' in my name in Worcester."

Ms. Torabi, 33, credits her Iranian-born parents for teaching her the value of money and for always providing her the best education they could afford. She lives in Brooklyn, N.Y., now and is the author of "You're So Money — Live Rich Even When You're Not," a tell-all for young adults searching for financial independence. Her latest book is "Psych Yourself Rich: Get The Mindset & Discipline You Need to Build Your Financial Life."

One trip to Spag's in particular stands out in Ms. Torabi's mind.

"I got lost in Spag's. I was only 3," Ms. Torabi said. She remembers that a man who was about 6 feet tall, "But seemed like 10 feet tall to me," hoisted her onto his shoulders. The kind stranger carried her through the maze of the renowned discount store until her parents spotted her. "I have a warm place — and a scary place — in my heart for Spag's."

Ms. Torabi said her parents came to Worcester in the 1980s. She said like many of the residents of the blue-collar city at the time, they were bargain hunters and thrifty with their money.

"We shopped at Spag's for school supplies every year," Ms. Torabi said. "It was the Walmart before Walmart."

Her father received a full scholarship for his Ph.D studies in physics at Clark University. Ms. Torabi was the first generation of her family born in America.

"I grew up in a home where education was very important," Ms. Torabi said. "As immigrants, my parents had an extremely intense work ethic as well."

Ms. Torabi is a highly sought-after speaker and frequent financial contributor to Yahoo Finance and "The Today Show." She hosts the Webby-nominated show "Financially Fit" on Yahoo, the No. 1 personal finance Web series, teaching Americans how to boost earnings, save more and spend smart. She recently joined Katie Couric's new talk show, "Katie," as the program's personal finance expert.

Ms. Torabi said her parents were also looking for better schools for her, and the family moved to Auburn when she was about 6 for five years until they moved to Shrewsbury, and then on to Pennsylvania for high school. She wound up attending Pennsylvania State University — even though she did not want to go to a state school.

"I was stubborn," Ms. Torabi said. Her father ended up making her a deal. "He told me, 'You don't know what you want to do. Why should I take out loans?' So he made me a deal. He said if I hated it, I could transfer."

Of course, she said, she wound up loving Penn State. Ms. Torabi graduated as a Schreyer Honors scholar in finance and international business.

Ms. Torabi said her parents did not have a dependency on credit cards. After conversations with her parents, she choose finance as a major instead of political science.

"Finance did not attract a lot of women; it was a hard degree to qualify for," Ms. Torabi said. "I like a challenge."

Ms. Torabi said not only did finance pose an enjoyable challenge, but she also enjoyed being a woman in the degree program at the time there were not a lot of women in the program, as well as being a minority.

"I want to be the only woman sometimes," Ms. Torabi said. "Because you have to stand out and pave the way."

After graduation, she was not sure what career path to follow and went on to earn an M.S. in journalism from Columbia University because "I decided I want to be a storyteller."

Ms. Torabi began her career as a researcher and reporter for Money Magazine during and after college. Following that, she headed to NY1 News, where she became the station's business producer and, eventually, financial reporter. She was also the resident small business and personal finance columnist for AM New York from 2004 to 2008.

From 2006 to 2009 Ms. Torabi helped launch TheStreet.com's video network. She served as the website's senior financial correspondent and host of "Wall Street Confidential" with Jim Cramer for TheStreet.com TV. In 2010, she anchored the syndicated financial news segment MoneyWatch for CBS Newspath.

"Jim Cramer was awesome," Ms. Torabi said. She said he was very supportive and wrote the foreword and investment chapter of her first book. "I credit him for launching my literary career."

From her early experiences, Ms. Torabi's other television credits include ABC's "Good Morning America, Larry King Live, The View, Live with Regis and Kelly, The Nate Berkus Show, The CBS Early Show, CNN, MSNBC, Tyra, Anderson, The Gayle King Show" and "Fox News."

"My parents were all about investing in yourself," Ms. Torabi said. She said her parents sacrificed to give her and her brother the best, and always provided encouragement. "My dad had a saying — just go for it."